Stochastic geometric analysis of energy efficiency in two-tier heterogeneous networks

The exponential growth in the number of users of cellular mobile networks (and their requirements) has created a massive challenge for network operators to cope with demands for coverage and data rates. Among the possible solutions for the ever increasing user needs, the deployment of Heterogeneous Networks (HetNets) constitutes both a practical and an economical solution. Moreover, while the typical approach for network operators has been to consider the coverage and data rates as design parameters in a network, a major concern for next generation networks is the efficiency in the power usage of the network. Therefore, in recent years the energy efficiency parameter has gathered a great deal of attention in the design of next generation networks. In the context of HetNets, while the densification of the network in terms of the number of base stations deployed can potentially increase the coverage and boost the data rates, it can also lead to a huge power consumption as the energy used escalates with the number of base stations deployed. To this end, the purpose of this thesis is to investigate the energy efficiency performance of different deployment strategies in a HetNet consisting of macro- and femtocells. We make use of well established tools from stochastic geometry to model the different strategies, as it provides a theoretical framework from which the scalability of the network in terms of the design parameters can be taken into account. Those strategies consisted first, on the analysis of the effect of using multiple antennas and diversity schemes on both, the throughput and the energy efficiency of the network. The optimum diversity schemes and antenna configurations were found for an optimal energy efficiency while keeping constraints on the quality of Service of both tiers. Then, the effect of the vertical antenna tilt was analyzed for both, a traditional macrocell only network and a two-tier network. The optimum antenna tilt in terms of energy efficiency was found while keeping constraints on the Quality of Service required. Finally, an energy efficient deployment of femtocells was proposed where the smart positioning of femtocells derived into improvements of coverage probability, effective throughput and energy efficiency of the network. The proposed model also improved in general the performance of the cell edge user which in turn resulted in a more balanced network in terms of the overall performance

D13.1 Fundamental issues on energy- and bandwidth-efficient communications and networking

Deliverable D13.1 del projecte europeu NEWCOM#The report presents the current status in the research area of energy- and bandwidth-efficient communications and networking and highlights the fundamental issues still open for further investigation. Furthermore, the report presents the Joint Research Activities (JRAs) which will be performed within WP1.3. For each activity there is the description, the identification of the adherence with the identified fundamental open issues, a presentation of the initial results, and a roadmap for the planned joint research work in each topic.Preprin

On the Road to 6G: Visions, Requirements, Key Technologies and Testbeds

Fifth generation (5G) mobile communication systems have entered the stage of commercial development, providing users with new services and improved user experiences as well as offering a host of novel opportunities to various industries. However, 5G still faces many challenges. To address these challenges, international industrial, academic, and standards organizations have commenced research on sixth generation (6G) wireless communication systems. A series of white papers and survey papers have been published, which aim to define 6G in terms of requirements, application scenarios, key technologies, etc. Although ITU-R has been working on the 6G vision and it is expected to reach a consensus on what 6G will be by mid-2023, the related global discussions are still wide open and the existing literature has identified numerous open issues. This paper first provides a comprehensive portrayal of the 6G vision, technical requirements, and application scenarios, covering the current common understanding of 6G. Then, a critical appraisal of the 6G network architecture and key technologies is presented. Furthermore, existing testbeds and advanced 6G verification platforms are detailed for the first time. In addition, future research directions and open challenges are identified for stimulating the on-going global debate. Finally, lessons learned to date concerning 6G networks are discussed